Recently, I had to take out the trash in the kitchen. It had a little food in it that had rotted. The bag was too full, so soggy napkins and wrappers spilled out as I tried to tie it shut. As I lugged the bag down the hall, one of our dogs realized she was in the way, and decided that flattening herself against the floor was a better idea than moving. She was greatly offended when I tripped over her, and almost dropped the trash. Outside, it was cold and icy, and I slipped my way toward the dumpster, which was, of course, too full. I threw my heavy trash bag onto the top of the pile in the dumpster, glad to have it join the rest of the festering piles of moldy, gooey refuse, and slipped and staggered my way back inside to wash my hands.
That little episode was a lot more fun than my other big project as of late: practicing excerpts for yet another audition.
That’s right, kids. It’s time once again to spend hours on snippets of music, way too much money on airfare, hotels, and rental cars, and fret about which reed is going to play adequately in a different climate so you can play the same ten minutes of music you’ve played before in front of judges who will curtly tell you, “thank you”, so you can then return home. Awesome.
The scene of this one is Jacksonville, Florida, whose symphony wants a new principal bassoonist to replace the one that left for the new job in Portland (yeah, I was at that audition, too). It’s a job I wouldn’t mind having, at all. I’m sure the other dozens of bassoonists who will undoubtedly show up to audition wouldn’t mind it, either.
Therein lies the problem. Let’s look at it point by point:
- The biggest goal for a lot of us musicians means getting a job with an orchestra.
- The path to getting into an orchestra is knowing snippets of all the of hardest solo passages in orchestral literature better than anyone else.
- Practicing excerpts is about as much fun as sitting in an old decrepit Datsun and pretending to drive scenic mountains roads with the top down: it’s a wonderful idea, but it’s only interesting for so long.
- There are not nearly enough jobs to go around for all of the bassoonists who want one.
Maybe this is why so many orchestrally aspiring musicians give up on this idea, and either find a job in another field altogether (like computer programming), or find another way to make a living in the musical world.
As I continue practicing the same old excerpts for yet another audition, I admit I’m beginning to get really tired of it. My fatigue only increases when I hear stories about great musicians who took over 50 auditions before finally nailing their job. Fifty??!!? I simply can’t imagine that.
I’m beginning to discover that the moral of the story is to do whatever else you can to enjoy real music on your instrument and stay in shape while you’re practicing those never-ending excerpts. Find some solos you know. Hook up with a fellow musician for some chamber music. Listen to some great recordings of musicians on your instrument. Do anything you can to stay inspired.
Meanwhile, start to think of your excerpts as nothing more than daily scales, or as warm-ups to your real practicing – not the most interesting of tasks, but a necessary part of your art. It seems to me that the second you start thinking of the excerpts as the sole focus of your playing, you get tired. At least that’s what’s happening to me.
Any other musicians with this problem? How do you deal with this, and force yourself to keep practicing? Let me know.
Auditions are a really defining moment for all the hard work you’ve put in during the preceding months/years in preparation. In ten minutes or less, you have to convince the panel of judges sitting behind a screen (and most likely making faces at you while eating donuts) that, out of the sixty bassoonists to show up, you are the one they really want to hire. The others are just hacks.